Geometry (Geometria XXIIII)

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

1460–70 · Engraving · Drawings and Prints

Hovering above an imaginary landscape, a pregnant Geometry describes a square, triangle, and circle in the sky. The print belongs to the so-called E-Series Tarocchi Cards, a title that reflects an early misidentification of the cards with the Renaissance game of Tarocco (a precursor to Tarot). It is instead one of a set of fifty early Italian engravings illustrating the breadth of Renaissance knowledge. The group is divided into five series of ten cards covering: the Conditions of Man; Apollo and the Nine Muses; the seven liberal arts alongside the sciences of astrology, philosophy, and theology—which includes Geometria; the Cosmic Principles; and the Firmaments of the Universe.

Artist

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

Date

1460–70

Medium

Engraving

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1992